The project is designed to operate a 4-bed Clinical Research Center for Children with facilities for multi-disciplinary clinical investigations. The clinical studies will be supplemented by animal/basic research. Endocrine mechanisms that control normal and abnormal growth will be explored using new hormone assay methods. Refined methods for controlling diabetes and other metabolic disorders in childhood will be tested. Infants and children with cardiopulmonary problems will undergo examinations employing new methods for cardiac performance evaluation using non-invasive and quantitative angiocardiographic technics. Studies related to defining the basic biochemical defects in heritable connective tissue disorders will be continued, and attempts to correct some of these through enzyme replacement shall be made. A multidisciplinary study of the pathophysiology in gastrointestinal malabsorption syndrome in young subjects shall be made. New therapeutic programs for the correction of immune deficiency disease in children shall be tried. New drugs for the control of muscular dystrophy will also be tried. Other new therapeutic ventures will be directed towards the control of certain endocrine, neurologic, renal, cardiac, metabolic and hematologic disorders. Normal and abnormal behavior patterns in newborn infants will be evaluated.